A trio of Russian entrepreneurs is redeveloping a three-acre sports complex — slated to be the largest in Brooklyn — in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, one of the developers told The Real Deal. MatchPoint NYC will provide nine indoor tennis courts; an Olympic-sized swimming pool; facilities for yoga, dance, fencing and gymnastics; as well as a restaurant and juice bar.
Brooklyn-based developer Sergey Rybak is spearheading the $20 million project — which was delayed in negotiations with the Board of Standards and Appeals for two and a half years, he said — with two countrymen: entrepreneur Drimtry Druzhinsky and tennis coach Noumroud Moukhatasov.
Construction began last June and the facility should be open within six months, Rybak said.
He noted that the area lacks recreational infrastructure and that “tennis in south Brooklyn — especially among the Russian community — is very, very popular.” MatchPoint will be the second-largest tennis facility in New York City, Rybak said.
Aside from the propensity for tennis in the surrounding community, Rybak said the location was also chosen because “where else are you going to find three acres of land in New York City? Even if you did, the cost would be prohibitive.”
Negotiations with the BSA took time, Ryback said, because the city had to “de-map” a street; although it was unused for the last century, the street technically bisects one of the parcels where the complex is being built.
“It was a long and arduous process,” he said.
Department of Buildings records show that an application to build a “non-commercial club with indoor tennis,” was approved last June.
Brooklyn Tennis and Sports Club LLC, the entity formed by Rybak Development and the partners, is leasing the space for 30 years, Rybak said. Landlord Beach Haven Group LLC opted to lease out what had previously also been a sports club but had fallen into disrepair, Rybak said.
Beach Haven, an owner of apartments in Brooklyn and Queens, bought the nine plots upon which MatchPoint is rising for $4.2 million in 2005, city records show. The 140,000-square-foot facility sits near the intersection of Shell Road and Avenue Z.
Rybak’s previous real estate ventures include 3001 Ft Hamilton Parkway, an 11-unit condominium project in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, and 390 Kings Highway, a 28-unit condominium in Gravesend, Brooklyn.